Cueto, Khryzz Lyden G.

ECE – 3101
Macasaet, Rhojine Niño M.

Laboratory #03

Transistor as a Switch

OBJECTIVE
● Understand the importance of cutoff and saturation to the operation of a transistor switch.

● Define the purpose of a transistor inverter.

● Identify the function of a transistor switch.

MATERIALS/APPARATUS
● Laptop

● LT Spice Simulation Program

PROCEDURE
DC OPERATING POINT ANALYSIS
● NPN
A circuit in LTSpice as shown below in Figure 1 and 2 was built.

Figure 1: NPN Transistor Switch A

Figure 2: NPN Transistor Switch B

In Figure 1 and Figure 2 collector voltage was set to 5V then the resistor at the base and
collector was set to 10kΩ and 1kΩ respectively. Figure 1 and Figure 2 differ on the input voltage
wherein Figure 1 has +5V as input and Figure 2 has 0V or GND as input. DC Operating Point
Analysis will be used in this configuration to determine the behavior of NPN Transistor switch.
● PNP

A circuit in LTSpice as shown below in Figure 1 and 2 was built.

Figure 3: PNP Transistor Switch A

Figure 4: PNP Transistor Switch B

In Figure 3 and Figure 4 collector voltage was set to -5V then the resistor at the base and
collector was set to 10kΩ and 1kΩ respectively. Figure 3 and Figure 4 differ on the input voltage
wherein Figure 1 has -5V as input and Figure 2 has 0V or GND as input. DC Operating Point
Analysis will be used in this configuration to determine the behavior of NPN Transistor switch.

DC SWEEP ANALYSIS
● NPN

Figure 5: NPN Transistor Switch C

Figure 5 still has the same resistor biasing on the terminals of the NPN transistor. In this
analysis a voltage source will be used since the type of analysis that will be executed here is the
DC Sweep analysis. This analysis will show the behavior of NPN Transistors when input voltage
changes from -10V to 10V. The graph representing the NPN transistor switch behavior was
acquired in this procedure.
●
● PNP

Figure 6: PNP Transistor Switch C

Figure 6 still has the same resistor biasing on the terminals of the PNP transistor.
However, as shown, the spice directive for the cmd simulation was changed to a different
directive. In this analysis a voltage source will be used as the type of analysis that will be
executed here is the DC Sweep analysis. This analysis will show the behavior of PNP
Transistors when input voltage changes from -5V to 10V. The graph representing the
PNP transistor switch behavior was acquired in this procedure.
TRANSIENT ANALYSIS
● NPN

Figure 7: NPN Transistor Switch with Half Wave Rectifier

Figure 7 shows the NPN Transistor switch with an input voltage coming from a half
wave rectifier circuit. The output voltage from the half wave rectifier will be like a switching
signal that changes value from 0 and 5V. This switching will be used as the input for the
transistor switch in order to observe further the behavior of switching and inverting in this NPN
Transistor switch.
●
 ● PNP

Figure 8: PNP Transistor Switch with Half Wave Rectifier

Figure 8 shows the PNP Transistor switch with an input voltage coming from a half wave
rectifier circuit. The output voltage from the negative half wave rectifier will be like a switching
signal that changes value from -5V and 0V. This switching will be used as the input for the
transistor switch in order to observe further the behavior of switching and inverting in this PNP
Transistor switch.
RESULTS/SOLUTION
DC OPERATING POINT ANALYSIS
● NPN

Figure 9: NPN Transistor Switch with Input GND(Left), 5V(Right)

Table 1: Tabulated Data of Operating Point Analysis

Input Voltage Output Voltage

0 or GND 5V

5V 71.1105mV

This transistor circuit functions as a switch rather than an amplifier. Switching and
inverting property of a transistor is commonly used in electronic devices, it can almost be
considered as the building block of electronic components. On this circuit, the NPN transistor
has an output of 5V, in switching theory 1 or logic high, when the input voltage is ground or 0V.
Whereas, 5V input yields a relatively low voltage output which is equivalent to 71.1105mV
which in terms of switching theory can be considered as 0V or logic low. The output of this
experiment indeed proved the switching and inverting property of a BJT Transistor.
 ● PNP

Figure 10: PNP Transistor Switch with Input -5V(Left), GND(Right)

Table 2: Tabulated Data of Operating Point Analysis

Input Voltage Output Voltage

-5V -71.1105mV

GND or 0V -5V

In this procedure an inverter or, essentially, an inverting switch was produced using the
PNP transistor switch. As seen in the DC operating point analysis, when a voltage of -5V was
applied in the base the resulting value of voltage in the collector is -71.110472 mV. -5V is much
smaller than -71.110472mV. This proves that the PNP switch transistor exhibits an inverting
property as when a lower voltage input was applied to the base, the output voltage in the
collector gave a high voltage output.

In the second implementation of the DC point analysis, the results of the procedure
wherein a ground or a 0V voltage is applied is shown in the table above. Here, when the 0V was
applied to the base, the Vout pin the collector voltage gave a result of -5V. Since 0V is much
higher than -5V, it can be said that the input was inverted from a high voltage input to a low
voltage output.

DC SWEEP ANALYSIS
● NPN

Figure 11: Input(red) vs Output(green) Voltage of the NPN Transistor Switch

It is assumed that DC Operating point analysis was insufficient enough to understand the
inverting property of the circuit. It is therefore decided to use DC Sweep analysis in order to
observe the changes in output when the input voltage is varied from -5V to 5V. In the figure 13
above, it can be observed that when the input voltage is less than or equal to zero then the output
voltage will be 5V. From 0 volt to 5 volts in the output side shows the linear effect of
incremental voltage input with a negative slope. This means that as the voltage increases from
0V the output voltage starts decreasing. The decremental effect stops at 5V which is equivalent
to the collector voltage. This happens due to its switching characteristic. As the input voltage
increases the switch that connects the collector to emitter opens up. This is just another way of
visualizing the inverting characteristic of the circuit provided in this laboratory experiment. The
result is the same as that of DC Operating Point analysis as expected.

● PNP

Figure 12: Input Vs Output Voltage of the PNP Transistor Switch

Figure 14 shows the graphical representation of the behavior of the PNP transistor switch
as an inverter. In the graph, it was observed that when the voltage is less than 0V then the output
voltage is -5V. The range between 0V and -5V shows the linear representation of the output
varying as the input varies. The slope represents how the magnitude of the output decreases as
the input increases. This behavior shown in the graph presents how the input is being inverted.
TRANSIENT ANALYSIS

● NPN

Figure 13: Transient Analysis of Input Voltage vs Output Voltage

DC Operating point analysis provided switching and inverting property of the transistor
at an instant while the DC Sweep analysis provided the behavior of the transistor as the input
voltage changes at a specific range. In this portion or the third analyzing technique, transient
analysis is introduced. In this analysis it is decided to introduce a new circuit which will generate
a pulsating signal from 0V to 5V repeatedly over a period of time.The circuit introduced is the
half wave rectifier which was taken from the previous laboratory experiment. The pulsating
signal will then be used as the input of the circuit to have a continuous switching input of the
transistor switch. The circuit is then set to run under transient analysis starting from 0V with time
constraint from 0s to 30ms. In the Figure 13 above, the switching and inverting capability can be
seen. Transient analysis was used to identify whether the behavior of the transistor switch
persists over a number of changing input voltages. It can be then observed and verified that the
circuit provided indeed has an inverting and switching capability.

● PNP

Figure 14: Transient Analysis of Input Voltage vs Output Voltage

To further give an elaborate representation of the inverter property of the PNP Transistor
switch, a transient analysis where the circuit was continuously ran until a given time of 30ms
was implemented. A negative half wave rectifier was employed for a pulsating supply of voltage
alternating from 0V to -5V. This essentially gave a switching input from a high voltage input to a
low voltage input. The green plot represents the applied voltage in the base while the blue plot
represents the output voltage at the collector. As observed, whenever the input is switched to a
high voltage, the output is inverted and resulted in a low voltage. And, when the input is
switched to a low voltage, the output voltage is high. The transient analysis provided the
verification that this design of the PNP transistor switch is an inverter.

ANSWERS TO GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. In the prior circuits, what voltage level would a binary 1 represent? A binary 0? Are the
answers the same for both the circuits using NPN and PNP?
a. The binary 1 and 0 for NPN and PNP are not the same, their magnitudes are in
fact contradicting. Binary 1 in NPN is 5V and 0 is 71mV whereas binary 1 in PNP
is -71mV and binary 0 is -5V. According to an article in All About Electronics,
binary zero or logic low can be accepted within the range or 0V to 0.8 volt. For
binary one or logic high is within the range of 2V to 5V. This only applies when
the voltage to consider is a positive one, it is different when negative voltages are
considered. Using the concept presented by All About Electronics, the more
positive or the one with greater potential energy is the binary 1 and the less
positive or with less potential energy is the binary 0. -71mV has greater potential
than -5V, therefore in NPN logic 1 is -71mV and logic 0 is -5V.

2. What is saturation? How is it demonstrated in this experiment?

A transistor is said to be operating in the saturation region when both of
the base-current and base-emitter junctions are forward biased. (Boylestad, 2013).
According to Electronics Tutorials (n.d), since the base current is biased with the
maximum amount of base current being applied, this will result in maximum
current at the collector. Consequently, this will produce a minimum voltage drop
in the collector-emitter and, thus, VCE will be fully “ON” . Electric Tutorials(n.d)
further stated that the transistor will work as a switch wherein when a positive
signal is applied to the base, the switch will be ON.

In the experiment, as implemented in the NPN Transistor A, the base-

emitter junction is forward biased since the base - which is the p-type - is more
positive than the emitter - which is the n-type - and the base-collector junction is
also forward for the same reason. In a normal switching, as stated beforehand, a
high voltage input will trigger the VCE to be fully ON. In the PNP transistor A,
on the other hand, the same observations were noted. The base-emitter and base-
collector junctions were forward biased.

However, since the experiment implements an inverter switch, in the NPN

transistor at saturation, the collector results in a low voltage output; hence, at
 saturation instead of ON it will be OFF. In the PNP transistor, because a negative
input voltage was used, although inverting will still happen, at saturation the VCE
will still be considered as ON.

3. What is cutoff? How is it demonstrated in this experiment?

A transistor is said to be operating in the cutoff region when both of the
base-current and base-emitter junctions are reverse biased. (Boylestad, 2013).
According to Electronics Tutorials (n.d), when there’s no voltage applied that will
result in zero input current in the base, the output at collector current will also be
zero and the collector voltage will be at maximum. Since there is no current
flowing at the emitter to the collector, they are essentially open and is considered
to be fully “OFF”

In the experiment, as implemented in the NPN Transistor B, the base-

emitter junction is reverse biased since the emitter - which is the n-type - is more
positive than the base - which is the p-type - and the base-collector junction is
also forward for the same reason. This will result in them being fully OFF in a
normal switching. This is the same for the PNP Transistor B where both
junctions are reverse biased because the base - the n-type - is more positive than
the emitter and collector - the p-type.

Just like in saturation, the result in the NPN is inverted where the cutoff is
ON instead of OFF. And, in the PNP the cutoff remains OFF because of the
negative voltage input.

4. Are the saturation and cutoff points the same for both the circuits shown in PNP and
NPN? Do the differences significantly affect overall outcomes? Explain.
When in saturation mode, the transistor acts like a short circuit between
collector and emitter. This happens when there is an applied positive base voltage
in NPN transistor and negative base voltage in PNP transistor. This variation on
the polarity makes the saturation point of these two transistors different from one
another. Even if the biasing techniques differ, the bias requirement is the same for
 the two transistors to go in saturation mode. The base-emitter and base-collector
junction of both transistors should be forward biased to be at the saturation point.
When in cutoff mode, the transistor acts like an open circuit between the
collector and the emitter. It occurs when there is no applied voltage to the base of
the transistor. The collector current is dependent on the base current(Boylestad,
2013). Due to this behavior when there is no applied base voltage, there is no
current and therefore no current flowing from collector to emitter hence an open
circuit. Unlike the saturation point which has variation in base voltage
requirement to attain, cutoff points in both transistors have the same requirement
which is around 0 base voltage. In cutoff point, the base-emitter and base-
collector of both transistors had to be reverse biased.
Even if the biasing type needed for NPN and PNP to reach saturation or
cutoff are similar, the voltage applied in order to attain the biasing are different.
For NPN positive bias voltage at the collector is needed but negative when using
PNP transistor. Due to the dynamics presented by NPN and PNP, they cannot be
interchanged in the circuit design alone. When an NPN is used, proper biasing
conditions should be considered for what an NPN demands as well as in PNP. In
design it is not advisable to use two different inverting switches due to different
biasing and output consideration. Their dynamics will introduce some
complications in the design such as increased range, or conditions to take in order
to identify logic high and logic low. Both transistors may have high output logic,
but their potential differences are not the same where in NPN it is +5V and in
PNP it is -71mV. Not only do they differ in polarity but also in magnitude.

CONCLUSION
With regards to the conduct of this laboratory experiment, the cutoff point in bjt transistor
occurs when the collector to emitter junction is discontinuous, meaning it is an open circuit. In
contrast when the collector to emitter junction is continuous and short circuit, the transistor is
said to be in saturation point. The essence of the cutoff and saturation state is the determining
factor whether the collector voltage will be the output or not. At saturation point, the output
voltage will not be equivalent to the collector voltage. This happens due to the continuity of
current from collector to emitter. When the flow is continuous to the emitter there will be a
division of voltage as there would be a drop in the C-E junction which in turn produced an output
at the collector much less than the collector voltage. At cutoff point, since the C-E junction is
open then the collector voltage will directly flow to the output without being exposed to voltage
division. Switching behavior can be obviously observed at the C-E junction controlled by the
input voltage making it the deciding factor in propelling an output-a logic high or low.

In correspondence to the previous conclusion and based on results and the discussion of
answers in the guide questions, switching is the function of the transistor wherein a high voltage
input results in saturation that produces a logic/active high or 1 and a low voltage input results
cutoff that produces a logic/active low or 0. Stated in the theory, computers of today only process
information in the form of a number system in base 2 or binary numbers which is as counted will
be 0 and 1. In accordance with this, since a transistor switch essentially converts the voltage
inputs into these logic signals, its main function serves as the building block of computers of
today.

As building blocks of computers, switches are used to implement Boolean expressions

and logic gates for the logic design of the circuit (Electronics Tutorials, 2020). As the laboratory
experiment verified that as an inverter the transistor switch inverts the input signal, it was made
clear that this behavior exhibited is that of a NOT gate in logic circuits. This gate is important in
digital electronics as it is the one of the basic gates used in designing logic circuits for electronic
devices. Depending upon the design, the NOT gate made with an inverter transistor’s purpose is
to perform negation or complementation of the signal or the input (Electronics Tutorials, 2013)

The laboratory experiment has reached its conclusion. All the objectives were achieved
and all the guide questions were answered.

WORK DISTRIBUTION:
Cueto, Khryzz Lyden G.

● Procedures in analyzing PNP Transistor Switch

● Results in analyzing PNP Transistor Switch
● Guide Questions 2 and 3
● Conclusion: Purpose of transistor inverter and function of a transistor switch.
Macasaet, Rhojine Niño M.

● Procedures in analyzing NPN Transistor Switch

● Results in analyzing NPN Transistor Switch
● Guide Questions 1 and 4
● Conclusion: Essence of cutoff and saturation.
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Electronics Tutorials. (2013). Logic NOT Function - Digital Logic Gates. [online] Available at:
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Available at: https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/transistor/tran_4.html.

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